War on Christmas!!!
The first foray into what is sure to be a fun Christmas season as the social conservatives, already feeling a bit beat down after this election cycle, both in the primary and general, will now be facing off with a highly energized opposition...
The ads, paid for by the American Humanist Association, lead people to one of their websites explaining their take on what humanism is and offers information to get involved in activities in the Washington D.C. area where the ads are being run. Here's their description from that website:
Many people imagine that the only way to be good in this world is through belief in a god. But is that really necessary? Must we be bound by moral dictates set down in “sacred” texts written hundreds, if not thousands of years ago? Must we accept the authority and judgments of “spiritual” leaders and religious hierarchy? Does religious faith offer the only lens through which to judge life’s events?
The answer to these questions is no! There is another way for us to approach life. We can have ethics and values that aren't set in stone. Our ideals and principles can evolve over time to reflect our ever-changing and increasingly complex world. Yet, we can be confident of the decisions that we make, not because someone told us what to do but because we relied on our own careful reasoning and emotional reflection. We can live a life that accepts and appreciates the world as it is, without needing to see supernatural explanations behind every event. This is a positive and uplifting way to live.
This way of life is called humanism. Humanists use reason and the tools of science to better understand our world and the best way to live in it. Humanists understand that compassion for fellow human beings, as well as an acknowledgement of their inherent dignity and worth, must form the basis of our interactions with each other. Humanists are free of belief in any god or afterlife. We must make the best of this one life that we have.
As this FoxNews article points out (as well as their cable coverage) there are elements of the religious right that consider his ad campaign to be a direct assault to 'take religion away from people' and proclaim their alternative view that the concept of 'good' is dependent on 'god.' From the same article it appears that the religious right intends to shake things up this year as well:
In Washington, the humanists' campaign comes as conservative Christian groups gear up their efforts to keep Christ in Christmas. In the past five years, groups such as the American Family Association and the Catholic League have criticized or threatened boycotts of retailers who use generic "holiday" greetings.
In mid-October, the American Family Association started selling buttons that say "It's OK to say Merry Christmas." The humanists' entry into the marketplace of ideas did not impress AFA president Tim Wildmon.
"It's a stupid ad," he said. "How do we define 'good' if we don't believe in God? God in his word, the Bible, tells us what's good and bad and right and wrong. If we are each ourselves defining what's good, it's going to be a crazy world."
Now to the atheist, this little excerpt makes for great humor. The suggestion that 'good' is dependent on his point of view, while promoting a campaign to stop people from using the inclusive term 'holidays' (which literally means holy days) instead of giving his religion sole consideration by retailers whose customers generally include people of varying faiths, or lack there of.
Similar absurd controversies emerge every holiday season as Christians rail against 'x-mas' which is a Christian abbreviation: Who put the X in X-mas?
The fact of the matter is that merely espousing another point of view isn't forcing them to abandon their faith. Being tolerant of religions other than theirs isn't a 'War on Christmas!' For as much as they seem to think they're being persecuted, they need to climb out of that lion's den of their over-defensive projection and stop trying to silence anyone and everyone who dares to suggest that they're point of view isn't the only one acceptable in our society.
I don't see that happening any time soon, so back to the war!
Ho... ho... ho...
3 comments:
It's a little weird that you're taking this point of view, Glock. These subway ads are as annoying as subway ads would be that said "Jesus loves you, find meaning in Jesus, etc." But the fact is there is no such thing, there are just those few annoying people on the street who pass out pamphlets.
I think people are annoyed by religious proselytizing and they're annoyed by atheist ad campaigns equally.
Most religious people aren't intolerant at all towards atheists and are probably more intolerant towards the evangelical nuts who take religion too seriously. They find in a religion a nice tradition a useful institution and a good way to introduce morals to their children.
The website for this group is arrogant and states "Humanists use reason and the tools of science to better understand our world and the best way to live in it." ---implying religious people don't use reason or science.
The critic's point of view that you cite is merely a criticism of the idea of moral relativism--he's saying that there must be some universal truth to what good is, it's not just what we decide it to be. Religious people think this truth is found through exploring the spiritual aspect of life, believing that you can't reduce goodness to material benefit or utilitarian philosophies--so look to the idea of God.
It's a point of disagreement. People are free to disagree on that. But its certainly not a viewpoint imposed on people in modern culture, except maybe some evangelical areas I have no experience with.
Why not acknowledge that this atheist group is being obnoxious, like some religious groups can be obnoxious? Instead you look at the criticism and get upset about the War on Christmas.
I don't agree with your take on some people objecting to how companies are starting to use "Happy Holidays" instead of referencing Christmas. The charge is that it doesn't make good business sense--because 95% or more of consumers in the United States are Christian. Instead, they say that companies are being pushed into doing this out of political correctness and the threat of lawsuits by groups such as this humanist organization over false claims that its discriminatory.
Do you agree with any of that? Is there too much political correctness around using religious language? Are there political groups that try to change govt practices through 'separation of church and state' grounds and corporate practices through discrimination lawsuits?
I don't care at all if these stores say 'Happy Holidays'. I'm not even religious myself.---I'm just curious as how you see there's a legitimate point of view on the part of atheist groups like this, and no legitimate point of view on the part of religious groups. They're just "projecting"?
*Get upset with the rhetoric about the War on Christmas
I certainly think they're being ornery with the ads, but the goal is exposure. I doubt they believe there's a chance in hell a religious person will suddenly abandon god because they see this, and obviously that was not their intention. It is obnoxious enough to get viral exposure and people talking about it though.
The reactionary response by some is undoubtedly part of the ad campaign's objectives to further the exposure for free. The more people it riles up against it, the more of their target audience it hits: atheists, agnostics, and fence sitters who never heard of humanism but might find it appealing.
I'm sure, like most ads, they're obnoxious to some folks, and like almost every ad for a ideological group of any kind (political, religious, anti-religious, consumer advocacy, etc) are annoying towards groups ideologically opposed to them.
Your accusation of arrogance is based on a cherry-picked line to show a conclusion contradicted in the context. Yes they note that their ideology relies on reason and science... but, as they note, without reliance on ancient scripture and religious dogma to lead the way. There's no implication that religious people disregard all reason or science, just an implication that it isn't the foundation for their world view, which is accurate for most religions.
As far as the 'war on christmas' stuff, secularists and religious groups are both pushing from both ends of the divide. Sometimes they both go overboard in my opinion. While you may feel bad for the companies pushed towards the more inclusive 'happy holidays' line, somehow I doubt you can justify boycotts to hurt their business as helping them.
And as far as one side's point of view being more or less legitimate, I'm not sure how you're using the term legitimate. I obviously agree with one more than the other, but also support the right of both to express their point of view.
I just found the story interesting and thought it was fairly clever marketing for their group/movement... not to mention my own personal fascination with the endless cultural tensions between the religious traditionalists and the secular progressives, both here and in west generally.
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